VIDEO: I’ve got to take my chance, says Daryl Murphy
It was his father, after all, who alerted the Ipswich Town forward to John Aldridge’s 19-year old record he was about to match when bagging 27 league goals for Ipswich Town last season.
Whilst the Waterford man broke his duck for this term in stunning fashion on Saturday with a hat-trick against Rotherham United, he’s still waiting to get off the mark for his country.
Eight years and 17 caps into his international career and the frustration at the zero in his goals column is apparent. Still, a quiet word from his dad during the countdown to Friday’s Euro 2016 play-off first-leg in Bosnia and Herzegovina puts his blank in perspective.
“I was chatting to my Dad, saying I still haven’t scored but should have with the chances I got,” explained the 32-year-old tipped to lead the line in Zenica. “And he was like - ‘maybe you’re waiting for a big game like this one, maybe it will be a goal that really matters.’
“That’s the way I have to think really. If I get a chance, I’ve got to take it.”
Just like his fellow Munster man Shane Long following his seminal winner against world champions Germany last month, then?
“Yeah, it would be nice to score in the play-off. I don’t want to look back not having done that for my country. I want to be able to say, ‘yeah I’ve scored for my country and it was a big goal too.’”
As much of a wise sage he is, Peter Murphy wasn’t the career catalyst during his son’s formative years back in the south-east.
“My father loves football and he follows me everywhere but he never actually played himself,” outlined the Déise man.
“I used to go watch my grandfather, Michael Farrell, play at junior level down in Ozier Park in Waterford. He played for all the pub teams until he was about 55, always wearing this big headband, out shouting and screaming on the pitch. I swear he was absolutely brilliant.
“He bought me my first pair of football boots. Having had seven daughters, I was the first boy to come along in the family so I think he wanted to get me playing as soon as possible.
“He passed away a few years back but got to see me make my Ireland debut. If I have the energy he had, I’d love to play until I’m 55 as well!” Before that twilight beckons, there’s a major international tournament and further Premier League exposure on his wishlist.
West Brom led the queue of suitors tailing Murphy in the summer but he rebuffed the interest to extend his stay at Portman Road until 2017, firmly of the view the Tractor Boys can surpass their play-off finish over that period and return to the top flight.
“I didn’t think there was any point in moving on,” he confesses. “I’m at an age now where I don’t want to be moving around when the kids are settled. Also, the manager has looked after me from day one, playing me in my preferred position of striker. It was a no-brainer when he offered me a new contract.”
Similar to Mick McCarthy at club level, Martin O’Neill has taken a shine to the target man since being appointed two years ago this week, entrusting him with competitive starts at home to Scotland and Germany over the past six months.
Long’s ankle injury, coupled with the suspension of Jon Walters, reinforce the belief Murphy is a certainty to get the nod for Friday, when an away goal could be the difference between the veteran heading to France next year.
“I’d only really play in friendlies, going back to my debut in 2007, before Martin and Roy came into the job,” noted the former Sunderland and Celtic frontman.
“So for the gaffer to trust me in big games gives me great confidence. Maybe Roy, having managed me at club level, praised me a bit to Martin too.
“I’ve arrived in here this week feeling good after scoring the hat-trick and would be delighted to be involved. It’s going to be tough over there, going into a hostile atmosphere of a 12,000-seater stadium.
“I actually feed off that having experienced it before. Playing for Sunderland against Newcastle was probably the worst derby of them all.
“Even getting off the bus going into the stadium, people were throwing things at us. Players were absolutely abused, got spat on and everything. It wasn’t nice at all.
“Yet, I think it’s good. It motivates you more. I’m all for that. Some players like it others don’t but you get on with it.”
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